Declan Rice can prove Roy Keane very wrong with new Arsenal promise

Declan Rice has insisted he wants to “impact games more” by scoring more goals and getting more assists in the 2025/26 season.

The 26-year-old’s output has improved in recent years, especially since making the £105million move to the Gunners from West Ham in 2023. Last season the England international had 19 goal contributions and the campaign before that he had 17, but the arrivals of Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard will likely see the midfielder play more as a No.8 this year instead of a holding midfield player.

“I think I have the capacity to play number six if needed but we obviously have Zubimendi, who we’ve signed, and Christian Norgaard who have been incredible. To see them up close in the first two weeks has been really, really good,” outlined Rice in Singapore on the club’s pre-season tour.

“I think the manager now sees me as a box-to-box player and I think at the back end of last season, off the back of Christmas, I showed fully what I can do in that position and I really kicked on. There’s still so much room for growth in that area for me as well.

“I’m looking forward to the season ahead and set myself some really good targets that I want to try and hit personally so I’m going to keep pushing to do that.”

Asked what exactly those targets are, Rice said: “More goals, more assists, impact the games more. Not just do it at the back end of the season, do it in a full season and set myself some numbers.

“I think the best players in the world do that. They want to try and push themselves and that’s what I’m trying to do and the manager is certainly on me to do that as well.”

Manchester United legend Roy Keane has been critical of Rice’s attacking output in the past and first made his views known in the 2022/23 season, despite Rice leading West Ham to UEFA Conference League glory. “For all the talk about him, a lot of good PR coming out of West Ham… I think he needs to do a lot more,” Keane said.

“He doesn’t score enough goals, he doesn’t get enough assists…. he needs to do more in every aspect. There’s talk he’s going to be leaving for big money and going to one of the bigger clubs who are going to be competing for trophies and competing in the Champions League, he needs to do a lot more, it’s as simple as that.

“Sometimes he’s just going through the motions. Playing it sideways, backwards, taking the easy option. He needs to do a lot more to match up with the other top midfielders in the country.”

Keane aimed another dig by gawking at the fee Arsenal paid to acquire Rice’s services. “They’ve obviously paid way too much for him,” Keane said ahead of Arsenal’s 2023 Community Shield victory over Manchester City. “He’s not worth over £100million.”

With Rice set to play a much more advanced role in the Arsenal midfield, he will likely find himself in a number of decent positions very frequently. When he does so, the Gunners’ No.41 will be intent to prove Keane wrong and make the most of the opportunity.